Door attachment.



UNITED STR@ FAT NT FFIE,

BENJAMIN J. AUFFART, OF MARYVILLE, MISSOURI.

DOOR ATTACHMENT.

Application led August 5, 1908.

Specification of Letters Patent.

'0 all who/m 'it may concern.'

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN J. Auria-infr, citizen of the United States, residing at Maryville, in the county of Nodaway and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door Attachments, of which the following is a specification.

This invention comprehends certain new and useful improvements in door attachments, and the object of the invention is an improved insect excluding device which is primarily intended for use in connection with screen doors, although it is susceptible of being successfully applied to any doors of the swinging type, and which is arranged to be spread out substantially like a Japanese fan, between the door casing and the upper end of the door, when the latter is opened, so as to scare and drive away the iiies or other insects congregated near the door and prevent their entrance through the doorway, said device being arranged to be automatically operated by and upon the opening and closing of the door, and being adapted, when in normal or closed position, to be folded into a compact form and to lie snugly against the door casing and entirely out of the way.

Vith this and other objects in view that will more fully appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in certain constructions and arrangements of the parts that I shall hereinafter fully describe, and then point out the novel features thereof in the appended claims.

For a full understanding of the invention and the merits thereof, and to acquire a knowledge of the details of construction, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of my improved device showing the same applied to a door, Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof parts in section, Fig. 3 is a top plan view illustrating the position of the parts when the device is in closed position, kFig. t is a similar view showing the device partially open.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawing, by the same reference characters.

In carrying out my invention, I employ a preferably metallic bracket 1 which is secured to the outside of the door casing above the upper end of the door and contiguous to and in substantially vertical alinement with the hinged edge thereof, and which, in the present instance, is secured to one jamb of the transoniway, as shown. This bracket is in the form of a horizontally disposed frame in which two rollers 2 and 3 are journaled in transversely spaced relation and in such a manner as to be susceptible of rotation about vertical axes. ril`he roller which has been designated 2, is the roller nearer to the corresponding jamb of the transomway, and such roller carries a horizontally disposed rod a which is rigidly secured at one end thereto and which projects outwardly beyond the bracket, and in the normal or closed' position of the device, extends across the transomway and lies folded against the door casing, as shown. rThis roller Q is formed below the rod 4t with a crank arm 5 which is oppositely disposed to the rod 4t and which is secured to one end of a substantially horizontal rod 7, that passes loosely through a transverse opening 8 formed in the roller 3 and projects outwardly beyond the bracket, so as to extend across the transoinway and lie below and in substantially the same plane with the rod 4t in the folded position of the device. The rods 4- and 7 are designed to carry suitable means for frightening flies, and in the present instance I have equipped each of said rods with a flexible fan blade 9 that is constructed of paper depending from the rods and slit or fringed, as shown. The roller 2 is designed to be automatically rotated in one direction or the other upon the opening or closing of the door, and as one means for effecting this result, I provide a tension spring 6, one end of which is engaged with the rod 4t in close proximity to the roller 2, and the other end of which is secured by any suitable fastening means, such as a screw eye, to the upper end of the screen door.

By the above arrangement of parts, it will be evident that upon the movement of the door outwardly to assume an open position, tension will be exerted upon the spring 6 and the rod 4t, so as to rotate the roller 2 in such direction as to swing the rod a outwardly in the same direction as the screen door, and to move the crank arm rearwardly to slide the rod 7 through the opening 8 in the roller 2 and effect the partial rotation of the latter. It willI thus be seen that when the door has completed its outward movement, the rods et and 7 will be spread out in a substantially horizontal plane, and somewhat in the form of a Japanese fan, and the fan blades 9 with which each of said rods is equipped, will have been swung forwardly in the direction of movement of the door, so as to effectually drive the Hies or other insectsy congregated near the same, away from the door and prevent their entrance into the building through the space formed between the' upper end of the door and the door casing.

I-t is thought that in practice, the separate fan blades with which each of the rods is equipped, will be suiiicient to scare the flies away and exclude them from the'building" while the door is open; however, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to such a construction, and if desired, may employ a cloth or other covering which extends from one rod to the other, and when the device is in open position, forms a canopy between the upper end of the door and the door casing, to prevent the entrance of insects in case the door is left in open position for any length of time.

From the above description in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be apparent that I have provided an improved door attachment which is positive in action and is automatically opened and closed by the movement of the door, without subjecting the person passing through the doorway -to any inconvenience, and which consists of comparatively few parts that may be easily and cheaply manufactured, so as to be placed upon the market at a price not too great to prevent the general adoption of the device.

It is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the use of two rods only, but three or any number may be employed according as may be found .desirable or required to obtain the best results.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is l. A device of the character described, comprising a bracket, rods rotatably supported therefrom and provided with insectexcluding means, and means for turning the rods and moving one of the rods at a faster rate than the other.

2. A device of the character described, comprising a bracket, rods rotatably supported therefrom and provided with insectexcluding means, and means actuated ,byand upon the opening of a door for turning the rods and' moving" one of the same at a faster rate than the other.

3. A device of the character described, comprising a bracket, rollers journaled in the bracket, rods carried by the respective rollers, means for turning the rods, and an operative connection Vbetween the rollers, whereby one of the rods is moved at a faster rate than the other.

4. A device of the character' described,

comprising a bracket, a roller -journaled inV the bracket, a rod rigidly secured to the roller, a second roller a-ls'o joui'naled in the bracket, another rod slidingly supported `by* the second roller and having an operative connection with the first named roller, and means for turnino' the rods.

5. A device of the character described, comprising a bracket, a roller fjourna'led in the bracket and formed with a crank arm, a rod rigidly secured at :one-end kto the roller and projecting outwardly beyond the bracket, a second roller also j ournaled in the .bracket and formed with a transverse open- IVitnesses i S. H. KEMP, HELEN S. FORD. 

